


What Happens in Vegas

by ZVArmy



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/M, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-25 18:59:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14385057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZVArmy/pseuds/ZVArmy
Summary: Dean Ambrose has taken his partner Alexa Bliss on a vacation to Las Vegas. Little does she know, he has a big surprise in store for her. Could Miss Bliss be about to become Mrs Ambrose?





	1. Chapter 1

A roulette wheel began to slow down, sending the ball bouncing down towards the numbered slots, which were coloured either black or red, apart from the two zero segments which were green.

"Red! Come on! Red!" Alexa Bliss called out from the far end of the table. She sounded about as drunk as she looked. She took a large sip from the cocktail that she was holding while she waited for the roulette wheel to come to a stop.

Standing beside her, Dean Ambrose downed the rest of his beer. He had decided that whatever the result of this spin, it was time for them to call it a night. Somehow, on the first night of their short vacation in Las Vegas, they were actually in profit. After sharing a very enjoyable few hours in the hotel and casino where they were staying, he figured it was time for them to go up to their room and end the night with the surprise that he had planned.

Alexa didn't know it yet, but the surprise was the real reason he had suggested that they could go and spend a couple of nights in one of Vegas's most luxurious and expensive hotels, despite the fact that they lived less than half an hour's drive away.

The roulette wheel's ball came to rest in the red segment for number five.

Cheering loudly in celebration, Alexa almost spilled her cocktail onto the table. That wouldn't have been a popular move at all, Dean knew. He carefully took the drink from her. "Steady, darlin'."

"Three wins in a row, baby," she slurred delightedly.

"You did great," he smiled. Actually, it was pretty ridiculous that she had called red three times in a row and won all three. Definitely a time to quit while they were ahead.

A large stack of chips was deposited in front of them. Dean picked them up and handed them to Alexa. "Why don't we go cash these in and we can go up to the room?"

"Aww, but we're doing so well," she protested.

"Exactly," he grinned. "Let's quit while we're ahead. That way, we'll have plenty to play with tomorrow."

"Okay, baby," she smiled drunkenly, looking up at him. "I suppose we could go back to the room, if you made it worthwhile."

"That's the kind of deal I can get behind," he said gruffly. He offered her cocktail back to her. "Drink up and we'll get out of here."

Since they were not going to be playing any more, he took her hand and gently led her away from the table so that someone else could occupy their spot.

After slurping up the rest of her cocktail, Alexa seemed to sway slightly on her feet for a second. "I think I might have had one too many of those," she admitted with a childish little giggle that Dean found adorable.

"I think so too." He linked his arm with hers so that she had something to keep her steady while they slowly made their way over to a window where they could cash in the chips they had won.

Five minutes later, they were up on the ninth floor of the hotel, walking back into their room.

"I'm glad you suggested coming here. I had so much fun," Alexa said, heading over to stand in front of the mirror in preparation for letting her hair down for the night.

"Beginner's luck," he said with a sideways grin.

"Definitely," she giggled. "I'd never played any of those games before. Maybe I could be a pro?"

"I think you should stick to the wrestling, darlin'." He was discreetly rummaging through one of the side pockets on the travel case they had brought with them, looking for the item that he had hidden in there. By the time she had let her hair down, he had found it and had stepped up behind her, holding it out of her sight.

"Love you," she said sweetly, looking at him in the mirror.

"Love you too." He gave her a kiss on the top of the head, then stepped closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Mmmm," she purred, as content as could be at being held by him.

"So, I kind of planned this out ahead of time, and I had a whole speech ready, but it's all gone now," he said awkwardly.

She turned her head and looked back up at him, totally lost. "Huh?"

"I didn't just bring us here to try out a few casino games and spend a couple of nights in a hotel." He brought up the ring case so that she could see it, and popped the lid open, revealing a silver ring with a pink diamond. "I want you to marry me, darlin'."

Alexa felt the buzz from the alcohol clearing quickly. Being with Dean Ambrose, she was used to surprises. She expected the unexpected. But this was something else. She hadn't seen a proposal coming. In typical Dean fashion, it wasn't the most romantic way of doing it by a long stretch, but that was how he was, and she loved him the way he was.

Looking at the ring, she found it so beautiful that it almost took her breath away. The pink diamond in particular was a wonderful touch. He knew how important it was to her to always have the pink in her hair, symbolising a show of strength with victims of breast cancer. She knew that Dean, in turn, had always found the pink attractive, and wouldn't have wanted her to change it, even if she had thought about doing so. Pink had become a special colour for both of them, and he had recognised that with his choice of ring.

"What a lovely ring," she gushed. "Dean, it's beautiful."

"Is that a yes?" he asked, still holding the case for her. Then he realised that, having messed up what he wanted to say, he hadn't explained what he actually had in mind. "I don't just want us to get engaged, darlin'. I want us to get married. If you say yes, I want us to marry tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" she asked, even more surprised. They had talked in the past about how they wanted things to be when the theoretical time came for them to tie the knot, and had agreed that they would go for a small and private service. Both of them, but especially Dean, were not keen on the idea of their personal lives becoming a public matter. He had expressed his wish that if they could get married without another living soul knowing about it until it was done, that would be perfect for him.

Alexa had agreed to a quiet service, with no public attention, but she had insisted that at the very least, she would want her best friend Lucy Thorne to be there with her. Dean had been happy to agree to that, and had said he would invite Seth Rollins, Lucy's partner and one of Dean's best friends to the wedding as well. But now it appeared like he was trying to get her to marry him without any of that being the case. As much as she loved him and wanted to commit herself to him, she just didn't feel like she could accept him going back on what he had promised her. She felt awful not immediately taking the ring and saying yes, but she had to stand her ground when things were not right.

"Dean, we talked about getting married. I know we agreed to do it quietly, without people knowing about it. The thing is, we also agreed that I could have Lucy there with me. She's my best friend, Dean. I really don't think I'm asking too much to have her there. I can't…"

"Lucy and Seth are here," Dean cut in, mad with himself for how wrong the moment had gone compared to how he had imagined it beforehand. "I arranged for them to fly in today so they could be with us tomorrow. I searched up and found a nice little chapel just outside the city, and I booked us in for tomorrow afternoon. But first, I need you to say yes."

"Lucy and Seth are here?" she asked slowly, now wishing she hadn't put away so many cocktails.

"Yes. Lucy, Seth and Clementine are here, in the hotel." Clementine was Seth and Lucy's adopted daughter, who had been living with them for about a year now, since her birth parents had died. "I told them that I was going to surprise you with this, and asked them to be there for us, assuming you said yes."

Alexa realised that was the third time now that he had effectively asked her to marry him the next day, although none of them had actually been put to her as a question. "You did all of that? You set it all up for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, darlin', I did. It was what we agreed, so…"

She turned around so that she was facing him. The emotion of the moment was starting to get to her. "I need you to ask me properly, Dean. You haven't asked me to marry you. You haven't asked me to marry you tomorrow. I don't want you to tell me you want it, I want you to ask me."

"You're right," he said, looking slightly embarrassed. "Alexa, will you marry me? Will you marry me tomorrow, in the chapel I booked, with Lucy, Seth and Clementine there with us?"

Alexa felt her heart fluttering. There was no way she could have said no to that, even if she wanted to, which she didn't. He had made the effort to surprise her with the stunning ring, to arrange for their friends to be there, and to book a nice chapel for the service. By a large margin, it was the most romantic thing she had ever known him to do. She saw nervousness in his eyes, but also unconditional love. She felt every bit of that love for him in return. She broke eye contact with him and took the ring out of the case. It slipped perfectly onto her finger. "Yes, Dean, I will marry you," she said softly, looking back up at him.

"I thought you were going to say no for a minute," he said with obvious relief.

"So did I," she smirked, teasing him. "As if I could, after you arranged everything like that. And I had absolutely no idea you were doing it. When did you even buy this ring?"

"I can't say too much, darlin'," he grinned. "All you need to know is, everything is set for tomorrow. We don't need to do any of that awful wedding planning BS. Lucy is going to take you and Clem out tomorrow morning to get you all made up, then you'll be meeting me and Seth at the chapel. Then we'll become Mr and Mrs Ambrose."

"Oh, Dean," she breathed, feeling tearful. Her emotional reaction had nothing to do with the alcohol she had consumed; it came purely from the overwhelming love she had for him. "I can't wait to be Mrs Ambrose. Alexa Ambrose has a ring to it."

"Yeah, it does," he said softly, in about as loving a tone as he could ever manage. "I know it's not what most girls would want for a wedding, but you know I'd hate every minute of a church service. I would be so out of place."

She touched a finger to his lips. "Sshhh. I'm going to love our wedding. The only problem I had was with Lucy not being there, as we agreed. I thought you were trying to go back on what we said, but I should have known better. You've already taken care of it all, and I think that's lovely beyond words. My mom and dad aren't going to be happy about not being there, but they'll get over it. They'll be happy that I'm happy, and I most definitely am happy. You're my world, Mr Ambrose. I can't wait to make my lifetime commitment to you official tomorrow."

Saying nothing, Dean embraced her. In itself, the gesture told her how much her words meant to him. Even with her, hugging wasn't something that he did all that often. He just wasn't that kind of guy.

"Then I suppose we'd better start looking at somewhere for a honeymoon," he said after a moment.

"Yeah, we had," she smiled happily, not that he could see her face with how she was resting her head on his chest. She knew that a lot of women would struggle to understand how she had such a happy relationship with Dean, with all of his odd ways and emotional awkwardness. But she also knew that below it all was a man at least as caring and loving as anyone else's husband; probably more so than most.

For his part, Dean was also thinking that he was a lucky man. He had never truly imagined himself being in a position where he wanted to marry a woman and put down lifelong roots with her. He had never thought there would be a situation where he would look at a woman and be proud to tell people that she was his wife. Indeed, that had been part of the reason he had bailed on his previous relationship with Renee Young. She had wanted that kind of commitment from him, as well as a child. He hadn't felt ready for it at all, which was why he had effectively run away, right into the arms of Alexa.

Neither of them were particularly proud of the way their relationship had started, sneaking around in hotels and backstage at arenas, having sex behind Renee's back until he found the courage to end it with her. But now, they didn't look back at the start. No matter how it had come about, they were meant to be together. They were meant to be Mr and Mrs Ambrose. He decided that he had to try and find something to say to let her know how he felt in that moment, as she had just done for him.

"Thank you for making me happy, Alexa," he went with as an opener, after pulling back slightly so that he could look her in the eye, finding the words as he spoke them. "I never thought it would happen for me. I never thought there would be the right person. I never thought I even deserved the right person, if they were out there. You know I've been with other women. You know I spent a lot of time with Renee. At one time, I was even convincing myself that she was the one. But she wasn't. You are. You're the one for me, darlin'. You're the only woman who could be Mrs Ambrose. I love you. I love you more than a simple man like me can find words for."

Alexa had been biting her bottom lip while she listened to his heartfelt words. "I love you just as much," was all she could manage to say.

"Remember that tomorrow night when I'm so drunk you have to carry me up here," he quipped, the normal Dean quickly returning.

 

She smiled, appreciating the joke. "I guess I'm about to sign myself up for a lot of years doing that."


	2. Chapter 2

Starting her wedding day with a hangover wasn't what Alexa would have chosen. If she'd had the first idea as to what Dean had in mind, she would have left the cocktails well alone the previous night. There was no point in those recriminations, though. What she had to do was drink some strong coffee to help cure the hangover in time for the wedding in the afternoon.

Lucy Thorne had sent a text telling Alexa to meet her and Clementine in their room, and to bring whatever she wanted to wear for the wedding ceremony, so that she could change into it later. From there, the plan was to go and have some breakfast, then head out to get made up, ready for the service.

Despite the hangover, Alexa felt on top of the world as she located Lucy and Seth's room on the fourteenth floor. It didn't quite seem real that today was the day she was going to marry the love of her life. In a matter of hours, she would become Alexa Ambrose.

When she found the correct room number and knocked on the door, she heard eleven year old Clementine's familiar excitable voice inside. "Is that Alexa?"

Lucy's voice came next. "Open the door, sweet pea, and you'll find out."

A moment later, the door flew open. Clementine was standing there wearing her customary baseball cap, and the newest t-shirt design for Twisted Thorne, Alexa and Lucy's tag team. "Alexa!" she squealed delightedly, running into her arms.

"Clem!" she replied with the same level of enthusiasm. She knew that she had been Clementine's favourite wrestler before she had been adopted by Lucy and Seth. That fact had created a special bond between them from minute one, and now meant that Alexa was the closest thing Clem had to an aunt.

They hugged each other, Alexa only using one arm as she was holding her dress for the wedding on a hanger in her other hand, and needed to avoid getting it creased.

"I missed you," Clem said, instantly melting Alexa's heart, as she always seemed to.

"I missed you too, sweetheart. I'm so glad you could come out to see me."

Lucy had walked over to the doorway. "Let her come in, Clem," she instructed gently as she relieved Alexa of the dress. Lucy's left arm was in a sling; a consequence of the dislocated elbow that she had suffered during a match a few weeks earlier.

Obediently, Clementine let go of Alexa and squeezed past her mom, back into the room.

"Thanks so much for coming out for my big day," Alexa said to her best friend, a huge smile on her face.

"As if I would have missed it," Lucy grinned, leading the way into the room. There was no hug between, since her arm was out of action. In any case, Lucy wasn't much of a hugger.

"How's the elbow?" Alexa asked. She closed the room's door behind her.

"I've started to rehab it," Lucy reported. "Another month or so, I'll hopefully be back. I can't say I've minded the time off, honestly. It's given me a lot of quality time to spend with Clem, hasn't it sweet pea?"

"Yes," Clem replied sweetly. She had hopped up onto one of the room's two double beds and started doing something on her iPad.

Alexa was about to ask where Seth was, but then she heard the toilet flushing behind the closed bathroom door.

"I'll leave this here for later," Lucy said, hanging Alexa's dress inside a wardrobe. "It's a lovely dress."

The light grey number was a nice dress, Alexa agreed. But it wasn't a wedding dress. With the surprise nature of the occasion, there had obviously been no opportunity to buy one. It was simply a case of wearing the most suitable thing that had been in the case she had brought. "It is, but it's not a wedding dress. Still, hopefully I'll look okay."

"Okay? You'll look stunning! It's me that'll look bad, with my arm in this stupid thing."

"I've got a dress," Clementine said, apparently listening to the conversation even as she played whatever game she was enjoying.

"I can't wait to see it," Alexa told her.

"Well, we've got breakfast to eat before that," Lucy said. "Come on, Clem, off that thing and put your shoes on, please."

It often struck Alexa how well behaved Clementine was. This was another such occasion. She put her iPad down almost straight away and got off the bed to find her shoes. While that was happening, Seth walked out of the bathroom.

"Hey, Lex," he said with a warm smile.

Alexa gave him a hug in greeting. "Thanks for coming out, Seth. It means so much to Dean and I to have you guys here."

"We wouldn't have missed it for the world. So, you're finally making an honest man of him?"

"I don't know about that, but I am marrying him," she replied with a chuckle.

"We're about ready to go grab some breakfast," Lucy said to Seth. "What's your plan?"

"I'm going to go down to Dean's room in a minute. We'll head out and find somewhere to eat. Then we'll probably end up having a drink or two to settle his nerves."

"Just don't let him get trashed," Alexa said, somewhere between a joke and an honest request.

"I won't. He'll be at the chapel in a functioning state, within plenty of time. You've got my word on that."

"Thank you, Seth."

"Okay, are we ready?" Lucy asked, mainly directing the question to Clementine.

"Yes!" Clem said excitedly. "And I'm really hungry! Let's go!"

Alexa had to laugh at the youthful enthusiasm. With a little wave to Seth, she followed Clementine to the door, leaving Lucy to say goodbye to her man. Out in the hallway, she had a moment to talk to the young girl. "Hey, Clem, how are you liking your wrestling lessons?"

"I love them! Seth had a ring built for us at home!"

Alexa already knew that. Seth and Lucy had commissioned a builder to extend an outbuilding at the back of their house. When the building work had been completed, they'd had a gym put in, complete with a wrestling ring. Since Clementine had expressed her desire to become a wrestler one day, and had convinced her adopted parents of her seriousness, they had started to give her some basic training.

"I know!" Alexa said enthusiastically. "It was there the last time Uncle Dean and I came over to your place. What have you learned so far?"

"I'm really good at running the ropes!" Clem proclaimed as her mom walked out of the room.

"And you've learned some basic freestyle techniques," Lucy added, smoothly joining the conversation. "We've got a future Women's Champion on our hands, Lexi."

"I can believe that," Alexa smiled.

Lucy took Clementine's hand and they started leading the way to the elevators. Walking slightly behind them, Alexa found it so adorable seeing Lucy with her daughter. At one time, she had seemed like the least likely person to make a good mother, but now that she was doing it, she was amazing. Seth was also a brilliant father to Clem, and there could be no doubt that the poor was happy with her new family after losing her birth father to a car accident and her mother to a brain tumour.

"What did you get up to last night?" Lucy asked.

"We were in the casino all night. Somehow, we actually came out ahead by the end. I'm surprised they didn't have us arrested or something."

Lucy chuckled. "No, they'll just be hoping you're back down there tonight, losing it all. Of course, we know that's not going to happen."

She was right. Alexa very much looked forward to consummating the marriage. That would be more enjoyable than any visit to a casino. "I did have a couple too many cocktails, though," she groaned. "I wouldn't have if I knew what was going to be happening today."

"We'd better get some coffee into you then. Press the button, Clem," Lucy said when they reached the bank of elevators.

Pushing the button to call one of the cars to their floor, Clementine was already thinking ahead to breakfast. "Lucy, will they have donuts?"

"They might do."

Clem looked up at her hopefully. "Am I allowed to have one?"

"Well," Lucy said slowly. "I guess we are on vacation. Yes, you can have a donut, if they have them."

"Yay!" Clem squeaked.

"So, how did Dean pop the question?" Lucy asked Alexa as their elevator arrived. The doors opened, thankfully revealing no one inside.

"Totally out of nowhere; typical Dean," she replied with a grin as the three of them entered the elevator. She pressed the button for the first floor, where the restaurant was. "He came and stood behind me, then suddenly he had a box in front of me with a ring in it. It's the most beautiful ring, too. I wish I could show it to you, but I told him to hang on to it until later. It kind of sucks that I don't have a wedding band to give him, but we're going to buy one."

"One of the downsides of a surprise wedding," Lucy acknowledged.

"Yeah. So, he showed me the ring and said, "I want you to marry me. Tomorrow."

Laughing loudly, Lucy said, "That's definitely Dean. What did you say? You must have been so shocked!"

The elevator reached the first floor. The entrance to the restaurant was right opposite them.

"I really was," Alexa answered as they walked over to wait for someone to seat them, as instructed by a sign. "He got in a bit of a mess, bless him. He didn't explain that you guys were here, so I thought he was going back on what we had agreed, which was that I would only agree to a small, private service if I could have my best friend there."

"Aww, Lexi," Lucy said, a rare display of genuine emotion.

"Well, it's true. You are my best friend. I really didn't think I was going to say yes for a minute, but then he told me that you guys were here, and he had booked the chapel and everything. I love him so much."

"Eww," Clem said, wrinkling up her nose. "I'm never going to get married."

Both women laughed. A smartly dressed man in his twenties approached them and told them that they could go ahead and find a seat wherever they liked.

After thanking him, Lucy mumbled to Alexa, "Defeats the object of telling people to wait to be seated."

"I guess that sign's there for when they're busier. I smell fresh coffee. Gimme!"

A few minutes later, the trio were sitting at a table, digging into their meal. Clementine was the only one disappointed, as no donuts were available.

"What's the plan for today?" Alexa asked. "I know we're going to get ourselves glammed. I mean, like, how are we getting there, stuff like that?"

"We're using the car that Seth and I hired. We're going to get ourselves all prettied up, then we're coming back here to get dressed, then we're heading to the chapel. Seth and Dean will have to make their own way there, somehow. Seth will sort it out."

Alexa nodded her happiness with the plan. "There's only one other thing we need to take care of. I need a flower girl. Now, who could I get to do that, I wonder?"

Lucy tried her best not to smile at the eager look on Clementine's face. "I don't know, Lexi. I'm not sure if there is anyone who could be a flower girl."

"I could!" Clem said.

"You could? Hey, there's an idea!" Alexa said excitedly. "Clem, you can be my flower girl!"

"Yes!" she said, delighted, almost knocking her glass of orange juice over in the process of throwing her hands up in celebration.

"Careful," Lucy said, chastising her gently.

Watching on, Alexa realised these moments were going to stick in her head for a long time to come. It was her wedding morning, she was sharing it with her bestie and the girl she thought of as a niece, and she had never felt happier in her life. So long as the wedding went smoothly, this would be the best day of her life.

"Let's just hope Dean actually shows up and goes through with it," she said, trying to make a joke out of her fears.

"Don't be silly," Lucy said dismissively. "Of course he'll go through with it."


	3. Chapter 3

Seth handed a double shot of Jim Beam bourbon whisky to Dean. He had an identical drink for himself. "There you go," he said. "That should take the edge off."

"Thanks, man," Dean said, taking a hit from the glass straight away.

Sitting down opposite him, Seth was trying to hide a look of concern. The two friends were at a corner table in a bar, not too far from the chapel where the wedding was going to happen in under an hour. Seth could tell that Dean was starting to flap, now that arguably the biggest moment of his life was approaching fast.

"I wasn't nervous about it yesterday," Dean said, looking into his whisky glass rather than at Seth.

"You don't need to be nervous now," Seth said reassuringly. This definitely wasn't a time for teasing; Dean genuinely needed help with going through with the wedding. Seth had no intention of letting him bail, come what may. "It's just you, Lex, me, Lucy and Clem. There's nothing to be nervous of at all."

"I'm going to make a mess of all the lines they make you repeat. I'm dreading it already."

"You'll do fine," Seth promised. "And even if you didn't, no one there is going to judge you. You're there to marry the girl you love, and we're there to share the moment with you."

Dean still didn't look up. Internally, he was having a conflict with himself. Deep down, he had known that when the wedding approached, part of him would want to run from it. Sure enough, there was now a voice in his head telling him that if he went through with it and married Alexa, he was committed to her. He was tied down. He was in it for life. The voice asked him if he was one hundred per-cent sure that he wanted to be in that situation.

In response, part of him thought hell no. But a much larger part knew that he couldn't walk away from Alexa. The entire reason he had taken what for him had been the enormous step of asking her to marry him in the first place was because he knew she was the one. Indeed, he had told her exactly that as part of his clumsily-delivered proposal the previous night. He hadn't been exaggerating when he had said that Alexa Bliss was the only person who could become Mrs Ambrose. Now they had to get it done.

But once it was done, there was no going back. No matter how much he loved her, at some base level, that thought scared him.

Across the table, Seth could see how conflicted his friend was. He decided that the best thing to do was get him talking about something other than the wedding. "Clem can't wait to see you," he ventured.

Dean looked up and managed one of his sideways smiles. "Yeah, right. She's always nervous of me."

"She is not!" Seth objected. "She used to be, I'll give you that much. But now? No way. She was talking about seeing Uncle Dean on the plane. She asked me if you were going to knock her cap off again, like you did last time she saw you."

That made Dean laugh. In the spur of the moment, to avoid giving a hug, which wasn't his kind of thing, he had flicked Clem's cap off her head instead. It had upset Lucy more than Clementine. The temperamental English woman had glared a hole through him, not that it bothered Dean at all. He had since decided that flicking the cap off would become his method of greeting Clem.

"How is she doing anyway?" he asked. "She must have been living with you a year now?"

"Just over," Seth confirmed. "She's doing well. The first few months were rough, as you know. She would often have days where she cried a lot and didn't want much to do with me or Lucy. But that doesn't really happen now. Actually, it's kind of the opposite. When she gets upset by thinking about her parents now, she gets clingy."

Dean sipped some of his whisky as Seth talked, smiling slightly at the positive news. "No matter how many times I see her with Clem, I still have a hard time picturing Lucy as a mom."

"I get that," Seth said pragmatically. "But she really is a great mom to Clem. I love them both so much, man."

"How many of these have you had?" Dean asked, raising his shot glass.

Seth chuckled. "Seriously though, Lucy's injury has actually been something of a blessing. That sounds weird, but it's true. She's spent so much time with Clem, and they've both loved it."

"And now they get to come to my wedding," Dean said, his thoughts returning to the rapidly approaching ceremony.

"Yep. Have you thought what you're going to do about a honeymoon yet?"

Dean shook his head. "I said to Alexa we would need to plan something. We need to speak to Vince about getting time off together first. Who knows when that's going to happen. I haven't got much of an idea where we could go, so I'll let her choose."

Now it was Seth's turn to shake his head. "You're so lucky, you know that? If I told Lucy she had to pick her own honeymoon destination, I think she would murder me."

Dean laughed. "You chose to get with the crazy bitch." Then he got more serious. "I am a lucky guy, though. Alexa is solid gold in every way. If I could pick a perfect girl for me, it wouldn't improve on her in any way. I was starting to second guess myself earlier, thinking about bailing, but no. I'd have to be braindead to do that. I'm going to marry her, and think myself lucky while I'm doing it."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Seth said proudly. He downed the rest of his bourbon and banged the glass down on the table, then stood up. "Come on, let's go get you married."

Looking straight ahead, Dean took a deep breath, building himself up to get out of his chair, as if that was going to be the toughest part of the day. After a moment, he felt psyched up enough. He finished his drink, put the glass on the table and got up without giving himself time for a second thought.

Clapping him on the shoulder supportively, Seth walked beside him across the bar towards the main entrance. He already had his phone in his hand, with the Uber app loaded up. "I'll get us a ride. We should be there with at least half an hour to spare; well before the girls get there.

"If they get there. I guess it would be ironic if after all this it was Alexa who didn't show up."

"Yeah, right," Seth said dryly. "With Lucy there, what do you think the chances are of that, even if she does only have one arm to use?"

"Good point," Dean admitted as they walked out into the street.

* * *

After a short Uber journey, Seth and Dean got out of the car outside of the quaint little chapel that he had booked. As predicted, they were just over half an hour early.

"This looks really nice," Seth said, shielding his eyes from the sun and studying the building.

Dean pointed to a door over to the left side of the frontage. "Looks like we have to go in over there."

"What, the entrance?" Seth asked, laughing.

"Alright, dick head, the sun was in my eyes."

On the way over to the entrance in question, Dean made a tidier job of tucking his light blue shirt into the black suit pants he was wearing. Seth was dressed in a similar manner, but in a white shirt. He had brought a suit jacket with him to Vegas, but once he had realised that Dean wasn't going to wear one, he had left it in the hotel room.

When they walked through the door into the building, they found themselves in a small but welcoming waiting area. There was no one currently occupying any of the chairs.

Over to the right hand side of the room, there was a reception window. A plump woman with red hair was sitting behind the window. A younger blonde woman in a dark grey suit was standing there talking to her in a manner which indicated a conversation between colleagues. Upon hearing the door bump closed, the blonde turned around. A smile appeared on her face.

"Mr Ambrose?" she guessed on her way over to them.

"Guilty," Dean said, stepping forward. "Call me Dean. This is Seth, my best man."

The woman shook hands with Dean first, followed by Seth as she said, "I'm Lindsay Tait. I'll be conducting your service today."

"Oh, okay," Dean said agreeably. "So, uh, how does this all work?"

"How many other people will be joining us today?"

"Lucy, Seth's fiancée, Clementine, their daughter, and in an ideal world, the bride, Alexa."

Seth had to try not to laugh at that. Dean had a unique manner of speaking, even at times like this.

"That would help," Lindsay said with a grin. "So, what I'm going to have you guys do is follow me into the chapel. You'll wait there until the others arrive."

"Alright," Dean said simply.

Lindsay led the way through a door near to the reception window. They walked past two closed doors, once on either side of the hallway. Up ahead was the entrance to the small chapel.

Walking in, Dean took in the several rows of seating on either side of the aisle, which wouldn't be used for their service. At the far end of the room was the altar, with a table off to the left hand side, on which was an open ledger, displaying a document. There were two chairs tucked under the table.

"This is really nice," Seth said approvingly.

"Okay, I'm going to talk you through the service," Lindsay said pleasantly once she stopped in front of the altar. "As I said, you guys will wait here for the bride and the maid of honour to arrive. The maid of honour will walk the bride up the aisle to join you here at the altar, where our service will begin."

"And then we say, 'I do?'" Dean guessed.

"You requested a non-religious ceremony, with no opening reading. So yes, we start with the vows. Alexa will declare her vows to you first, Dean, then you will declare your vows to her. Then it will be time to exchange rings, if you have them?"

"I have one to give her. Well, Seth has it." Dean looked at his friend.

A look of horror appeared on Seth's face as he patted his pants pocket, making Dean's heart skip a beat. After a moment, Seth pulled out the ring case. "Of course I have it," he grinned.

"I was about to swing for you," Dean said.

Lindsay laughed at them, before Dean went on.

"Alexa doesn't have anything to give me, unfortunately. I kind of surprised her with the wedding, so there wasn't time to buy one. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all," Lindsay smiled. "You'll give the ring to Alexa, then we'll go over to the table, where you'll both sign the marriage documents to legally certify the marriage. When that has been done, I can pronounce you husband and wife, and you will have the opportunity to seal the declaration with a kiss."

"It sounds so simple when you describe it like that," Dean said nervously.

"There is no pressure on you in this place, Dean," Lindsay said soothingly. "You are here with your bride and your friends, who want nothing more than to share your special day."

"Yeah," he agreed, feeling a little better.

Lindsay gestured to a door over to the right hand side of the altar. Through the window in the door, Dean could see a perfectly presented grassy area. "After the service," she said, "you'll proceed through the door there, out into the garden, where you can take any photographs you might, or throw confetti. We do ask that you make sure not to throw any inside the building."

"I don't think there will be any confetti," Dean said.

"No, I don't there will," Seth added. "I think Lucy's just going to buy some flowers for Clem to bring. She'll want to be a flower girl."

"Okay, gentlemen," Lindsay said. "I'll head out front to greet the bride when she arrives, so long as there's nothing else I can help you with?"

"No, thank you," Dean replied. "Just need to hope Alexa shows up now."


	4. Chapter 4

"The groom and the best man are ready and waiting," Lindsay said to Alexa. They were standing in the hallway outside of the chapel. The procedure for the ceremony had been explained to her. Everything was set. It was time to get married.

"Then let's do it," Alexa said, a slight nervous tremor in her voice.

"Okay. I'll go in now and take my position at the altar. Follow me when you're ready. Lucy, you'll walk beside Alexa, and Clementine, I need you to follow behind them. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes," Clem said sincerely, holding onto the little bouquet of flowers for dear life until Alexa was ready to take them.

Looking at Lucy and Clementine in their matching white dresses, Alexa's heart felt full. They both looked so gorgeous. Clem, for once, didn't have a baseball cap on. It had been banned by Lucy, despite protestations from the young girl. All three of them had had their hair and makeup done, and looked at their very best for the service. The only blight was Lucy having her left arm in a sling, but nothing could be done about that. Taking it off for the photographs after the service was going to be as much as she could risk.

"At least Dean showed up," Alexa said to Lucy after Lindsay made her way into the chapel.

"Of course he did. Even he's not that much of an idiot. You look stunning, Lexi. He's such a lucky guy."

"Thank you," she replied a little timidly.

"Ready, Clem?" Lucy asked next.

"Yes."

"Good girl. Remember, when we get to the altar, stand next to me and don't say anything, okay?"

Clem nodded. "Okay."

Alexa took a slow, deep breath. "I guess it's time."

* * *

In the chapel, Dean felt so nervous that he could hardly stand still. It was a feeling that he absolutely hated. But at the same time, he tried to make himself focus on the positives. Any second now, his beautiful bride would enter the chapel. They really were doing it. They were getting married.

Dean glanced at Seth, receiving a reassuring smile in return. He turned back to look at the chapel's entrance, and there they were. Carrying a small bouquet of flowers, Alexa walked slowly in, looking so incredible in her light grey dress that it almost took his breath away. She gave him a loving little smile that made his chest feel weird.

Lucy walked beside her, also looking amazing in a white dress, with little Clementine bringing up the rear, looking cute as a button.

There was no music playing, but it was only a short walk for Alexa past the few rows of empty seating. Shortly, she was standing beside him. They stood half facing each other, half facing Lindsay, who had taken up a position in front of them, a warm smile on her face. He was impressed that she was apparently able to conduct the ceremony without a script or any notes to refer to. But then, she must have done it countless times before.

Alexa smiled adoringly at Dean, as he did the same to her.

Satisfied that everyone was ready, Lindsay began the service. "Good afternoon, and welcome to The Magnolia Chapel, Las Vegas. We are gathered here today to witness a unique moment in the lives of Alexa and Dean, as they join their lives in the union of marriage. To their guests, Lucy, Clementine and Seth, they are happy to share this moment with you."

Dean noticed Seth look over at his two girl with an adoring smile of his own.

"Marriage," Lindsay went on, "as most of us understand it, is a voluntary and full commitment. It is made in the deepest sense to the exclusion of all others, and it is entered into with the desire and hope that it will last for life."

Dean looked at Alexa, seeing that her attention was fully on listening to Lindsay.

"Before you declare your vows to one another, I want to hear that it is indeed your intention to be married today." Lindsay turned to Alexa. "Alexa, do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Dean in marriage? If so, answer 'I do.'"

"I do," Alexa said without hesitation.

Lindsay turn her attention to Dean. "Dean, do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Alexa in marriage? If so, answer 'I do.'"

"I do," he confirmed.

"Alexa, please give your bouquet to Clementine," Lindsay said next.

Taking the flowers, Clem looking overjoyed by her part in the proceedings.

"Dean and Alexa, having heard that it is your intention to be married, I now ask you to declare your vows to each other. Please face each other and hold hands."

Dean took Alexa's small hands in his and looked her in the eyes, hoping that he was displaying none of the nervousness he was feeling. The moment to repeat the vows was approaching, and he was anxious about making a mess of it. But first, it was a Alexa's turn.

"I, Alexa Joanne Bliss," she repeated after Lindsay, "take you, Dean Jonathan Ambrose, to be my husband. I will share my life with yours, build our dreams together, support you through times of trouble, and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty through all the trials and triumphs of our lives together. This commitment is made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope, and made new every day of our lives."

She had gotten through it without faltering or making a mistake, unconditional love in every word she said. Dean felt himself on the verge of tearing up, which surprised him greatly. But now it was his turn. He willed himself not to screw up as Lindsay began to speak. He repeated after her.

"I, Dean Jonathan Ambrose, take you, Alexa Joanne Bliss, to be my wife. I will share my life with yours, build our dreams together, support you through times of trouble, and rejoice with you in times of happiness. I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty through all the trials and triumphs of our lives together. This commitment is made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope, and made new every day of our lives."

He had done it! Not a single trip over a word. He felt such a wave of relief, enjoying the adoring look that Alexa continued to give him.

Lindsay continued. "The wedding rings that Alexa will receive today, and Dean will receive at a later date, are the outward and visible sign of the inward and invisible bond which already unites your two hearts in love." She looked at Seth. "I ask the best man to give the ring to the groom."

Dean turned to Seth to accept the ring. The look the two men exchanged as the ring changed hands was the most tender of their friendship to date.

"Dean, place the ring on Alexa's finger and repeat after me."

He slipped the silver ring onto her slender finger, then repeated the words he was given.

"Alexa, I give you this ring. Wear it with love and joy. As this ring has no end, my love is also forever."

Lindsay turned to Alexa. "Alexa, please repeat after me."

Taking both of Dean's hands again, Alexa repeated the words that she was given.

"Dean, I promise to give you a ring. Wear it forever, as a sign of my love."

Smiling broadly, Lindsay moved on. "While this wedding is a celebration of love and commitment, it is also a legal ceremony. I ask the maid of honour and the best man to join me and the bride and groom at the table."

Everyone made the short walk over to the table, even Clementine, who stuck close to Lucy. Lindsay gestured for Alexa and Dean to sit before she continued with the ceremony.

"The signing of a marriage certificate is not just a legal requirement. It is in fact an ancient custom that represents the concept that not only must marriage be entered into consensually by both parties, but that it is also a social contract between a couple and their community, for the good of all. Signing the marriage documents is also a self-defining moment for Alexa and Dean; perhaps one of the most important and impactful moments of their lives. So, I ask them to sign the document before them."

Alexa went first, putting her signature in the correct space. With that done, she handed the pen to Dean, smiling at him.

After taking the pen, Dean scrawled his signature in the right place.

Lindsay said, "I now ask the maid of honour and the best man to sign the marriage licence as witnesses to this moment."

Alexa and Dean got up, changing places with Lucy and Seth, who signed their names in the required places. With that done, they stood back up and returned to their friend's sides for the end of the ceremony.

Smiling happily, Lindsay said, "May the legal benefits and obligations of marriage enhance your lives for years to come, and may your love be a life-long source of excitement, contentment, affection, respect and devotion for one another."

Dean looked into Alexa's eyes, trying to convey all of those things to her.

"Now," Lindsay said, "by the power vested in me by the city of Las Vegas, it is my honour and delight to declare you husband and wife. You may seal the declaration with a kiss."

Leaning down, Dean kissed Alexa, his wife, lightly on the lips.

"Congratulations," Lindsay said to end the service.

Seth, Lucy and Clementine began applauding as Dean said, "I love you, Mrs Ambrose."

"I love you, Mr Ambrose," she replied, stretching up for another kiss.

By that time, Lindsay had walked over and opened the door that led out into the garden. "Enjoy your celebrations," she said to the happy couple, who made their way towards her.

"Could you please get a photo of us all as a group?" Alexa asked Lindsay after thanking her for the wonderfully-delivered service.

"Of course," she agreed easily.

"Here, use my phone," Seth said, opening the camera app and handing the phone to her.

The group walked out into the garden. After Lucy took off her sling and set it aside out of the way, they formed a line. Alexa and Dean stood in the middle, with Lucy and Seth beside them respectively.

"Stand in front of Alexa and Dean, Clem," Seth said.

Clementine stood in front of and between her aunt and uncle, right in the middle of the picture, holding the bouquet of flowers. All five people smiled, and Lindsay took the shot.

The first picture of Mr and Mrs Ambrose was one that they would always treasure.

END


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